Austin-Smith:Lord are attending ‘Housing 2019’ from 25-27 June. This is the Chartered Institute of Housing’s annual event, and Europe’s largest housing festival. If you’d like to meet up, please get in touch with:
Martin Roe, Partner
Martin.Roe@austinsmithlord.com
+44 (0)7879 402639
Allan Chan, Director
Allan.Chan@austinsmithlord.com
+44 (0) 7909 234519
Tope Balogun, Associate
Tope Balogun@austinsmithlord.com
+44 (0) 7795 445032
Two Austin-Smith:Lord projects have been shortlisted in the 2019 Scottish Design Awards – Partick Interchange and the (Y)our Broomielaw District Regeneration Framework.
The redevelopment of Partick Interchange, shortlisted in the Regeneration category, was completed by Austin-Smith:Lord on behalf of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport. It forms part of a vital transportation hub in the west of Glasgow; integrating bus, rail and subway with national cycle and local footpath networks creating improved seamless multi modal connectivity and access for all.
The (Y)our Broomielaw District Regeneration Framework, led by Austin-Smith:Lord in collaboration with leading international architects and urbanists MVRDV, has been shortlisted in the Masterplanning category. The framework was prepared for Glasgow City Council as part of the (Y)our City Centre project in collaboration with thousands of contributors through public participation and engagement with stakeholders. It illustrates a bold new concept for Broomielaw as a new, vibrant mixed-use quarter in Glasgow’s city centre and at the heart of the regional economy.
Graham Ross, Partner at Austin-Smith:Lord said “We’re thrilled to have been shortlisted for these projects. Most importantly we’ve been proud of the very positive feedback received to date from local communities and those involved in delivering these projects.
“Both the Partick Interchange and (Y)our Broomielaw District Regeneration Framework seek to optimise key sites in Glasgow to the benefit of all Glaswegians. Improving sustainable urban mobility across the city is crucial to help deliver inclusive growth and connect communities with their city’s assets, services and opportunities. The Partick Interchange significantly enhances a key gateway in the city’s West End; improving passenger experiences and connections between the bus, rail, subway, cycle and path network.
“The (Y)our Broomielaw Framework sets out a bold and deliverable ambition for a compact, mixed-use urban district that benefits from a great riverside location and excellent connections to the city region’s urban mobility networks. In co-designing these proposals with Glaswegians during the (Y)our City Centre project it is apparent that the potential for Broomielaw is vast. If we get it right it can help transform Glasgow’s city centre and its river.”
The winners will be announced on 22nd August. Click here to see the full list of finalists.
Following on from January’s win at the Somerset Building Control Partnership Awards, the National College for Nuclear Southern Hub, for Bridgwater & Taunton College, has now been awarded Best Educational Building at the LABC Building Excellence South West Awards.
This stunning new centre is focused on the development of new and innovative curricula to support the UK’s nuclear renaissance, closely linked to the nuclear development at the nearby Hinkley Point C. The project harnesses Virtual and Augmented Reality technologies to deliver specialist skills teaching programmes. The team included Austin-Smith:Lord, Midas Construction, Atkins and W T Hills.
Our congratulations go to everyone involved. The project will now be put forward to the Grand Finals in London this November. Best of luck to everyone shortlisted!
Read more info about the project here.
Researchers from The University of the West of Scotland (UWS) have been awarded funding from Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) to study the cultural impact of festivals and events held in public spaces. Austin-Smith:Lord are delighted to be named as Associate Partners of UWS in this exciting project.
UWS will lead the project, which will also involve leading academics from University of Westminster, Technological University Dublin, University of Gothenburg and Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain.
The FESTSPACE project will explore how festivals and events create or restrict access to public spaces, and the ways in which they bring together people from different cultural, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds in Glasgow, Dublin, Gothenburg, London and Barcelona.
Eight other non-academic partners will join Austin-Smith:Lord in the two-year research programme, including Glasgow Life, European Festivals Association and Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (DCHG), ensuring researchers have access to current strategies and plans to facilitate the research.
It is hoped non-academic partners will be able to use the findings of the two-year project to inform future cultural event strategies and planning.
Professor David McGillivray, Project Lead and Professor at the School of Media, Culture and Society at UWS, said: “Scotland’s cities are playing host to more outdoor festivals and events than ever before, with local authorities beginning to see the wider benefits of bringing diverse communities together.
“Our research will examine the ways in which various publics interact with public spaces, the impact outdoor festivals and events have on communities, and their ability to encourage inclusion. People have personal connections to festivals and events, giving weight to the theory that these events are central to community identity and social cohesion.”
Graham Ross, Partner at Austin-Smith:Lord, said: “As a design practice our work in urban planning, landscape design, conservation and architecture across the UK involves working with local communities and authorities in shaping public space. We’re fascinated by the design challenge of fusing an evidence-based, human-centric participatory planning approach to public space design that simultaneously captures the essence and sense of a place.”
“To quote Patrick Geddes, ‘a city is more than a place in space, it is a drama in time’. Successful public spaces provide a setting for shared events and individual experiences; from the routine to the spectacular. We look forward to exploring, with colleagues on the research team, how the design and events occurring within public spaces defines the culture, identity and civic health of a place.”
Graham Ross will be taking part in a panel discussion at the launch event in Paisley on 14th June. Entry to the event is free. For more details and to register your name, click on the link below:
For more information on HERA, and the FESTSPACE project, follow this link:
Austin-Smith:Lord are delighted to be part of this year’s Architecture Fringe. Initiated by a group of architects, designers, photographers, engineers, visual artists, curators and musicians, the Architecture Fringe is an independent contributor-led series of projects and events across the arts which explores architecture and its impact.
We will be hosting ‘Past Present Possible Glasgow 2019’ on Saturday 15th June 2019 (drop in any time between 10am and 3pm) in the Glasgow City Free Church, 265 St Vincent Street, Glasgow. Everyone is welcome!
More details at the link below:
http://architecturefringe.com/#/past-present-possible-glasgow-2019/
We are delighted to be selected by the Welsh Procurement Alliance for inclusion on their new Construction Consultancy Framework. This important new framework enables clients to access our services throughout the whole of Wales through both Direct Award and Mini-Competition.
The fully OJEU compliant, free to access, framework provides an excellent opportunity for clients to commission the high quality services that they require whilst saving on both the cost and time associated with other procurement routes.
The Welsh Procurement Alliance (WPA) is a new approach for procurement in Wales, and is backed by LHC, one of the leading and most respected not-for-profit, public sector procurement organisations in the UK. Whilst established some 50 years ago to foster greater efficiencies and higher quality within the housing sector, the WPA Framework is designed for use across all public sector work and already has the backing of around 30 Client Partners including Welsh Local Authorities, Universities and Housing Associations.
The service provision offered through the Construction Consultancy Framework covers the full range of RIBA stages 0-7 to support building projects from site find, survey and feasibility through to design, project management and completion. Austin-Smith:Lord has been selected to cover all 3 regions of North, South and Mid Wales, following a rigorous competition assessing both quality and cost.
Access to the Framework is very straight forward and the WPA has a client support team on hand to assist. If the framework is of interest to you, please contact our WPA Framework Partner, Martin Roe. martin.roe@austinsmithlord.com
We are delighted to announce that Kew Gardens Great Pagoda has been ‘Highly Commended’ in the 2019 Museums & Heritage Awards (Restoration or Conservation Project of the Year’ category).
The Great Pagoda, located at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, is the most important Chinoiserie-style building in Europe. It is a ten-storey brick tower with octagonal plan form and roofs and balconies rising in diminishing stages. After five years of research and investigation it has undergone a major restoration, led by Austin-Smith:Lord on behalf of Historic Royal Palaces, with the aim of returning it to the original vision. This includes the reintroduction of eighty dragon sculptures on the roofs. It has now re-opened to the public for the first time in thirty years.
David Millar, Head of Conservation at Austin-Smith:Lord said “We are delighted that all the hard work to bring the Pagoda story to life and reinstate the dragons has been acknowledged by the Museums and Heritage judges last night. Thanks to all involved!”
Our congratulations go to all the other shortlisted projects, and of course the category winner which was the Old Royal Naval College Painted Hall project.
You can find out more about the Kew Gardens Great Pagoda project at this link: https://www.austinsmithlord.com/projects/the-great-pagoda-kew-gardens/
Take a look at some of our other conservation projects here: https://www.austinsmithlord.com/service/conservation/
West End Community Council have received funding through the Places for Everyone fund which is administered by Sustrans Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government and Transport Scotland, to develop ideas to enhance a section of Perth Road, Dundee to create an accessible, quality ‘high street’ for everyone. The project focuses on Perth Road from Miller’s Wynd to Blackness Library, but considers this key route within the wider context of Dundee.
The project will encourage active travel by seeking to identify ways to improve access for all, particularly people who walk, cycle or wheel. The project will promote positive behavioural change whilst applying the town centre first principle to encourage social, economic and physical regeneration of the Perth Road area as a whole. Given Perth Road’s proximity to the city centre, the project will seek to strengthen connections to key destinations and routes in the centre of Dundee.
Perth Road – Places for Everyone is the first phase of an ambitious three phase project to transform Perth Road into an area which is safe, accessible and attractive, creating a desirable destination that people will want to visit shop and spend time in. This first phase seeks to gather survey evidence, engage with both the community and stakeholders and formulate a placemaking plan which will subsequently feed into further funding applications to expand on design stages.
If successful the second phase would involve developing design ideas in collaboration with the local community, and the third phase would be the construction and implementation of these design ideas.
The West End Community Council have appointed a team comprising Austin-Smith:Lord (urban planning, landscape, architecture), WAVEparticle (community engagement, public arts), Transport Planning Ltd., and Neilson Partnership (cost consultants) to collaborate with the local community, businesses, Dundee City Council and local and national agencies to develop initial ideas for Perth Road.
Throughout May and June 2019 there will be numerous events and opportunities for anyone with an interest and passion for this part of Dundee to get involved and share your ideas. If you live, have a business, work in or visit this part of Perth Road, the West End Community Council want you have your say on what works, what needs to be improved and what the priorities are.
All events are free and open to everyone.
There will be a programme of on-street, online and in-situ events to explore the priorities for action in the area.
From 29th April 2019 there will be a dedicated Commonplace website where you can post your comments on what works, needs to be enhanced and ideas to make positive changes to improve Perth Road. This can be accessed at https://perthroaddundeemap.commonplace.is/
A Places for Everyone Charrette on 22 – 25 May as part of Dundee Design Month 2019 will feature a series of participatory planning workshops and interactive activities at Gate Church International (158 Perth Road, Dundee). In advance of the Charrette local young people will participate in design workshops in the local schools.
The Charrette events will start with an evening Launch Event on Wednesday 22 May. An open door Co-Design Studio will run on 22 – 25 May, inviting participants to drop-in and get creative by sharing, sketching and testing ideas to improve pedestrian and cycle access and enhance the quality of the environment along Perth Road to support the local resident, business and civic community in the area.
A programme of events in the Co-Design Studio will include: Walk, Wheel and Talk tours of the area to problem solve on-site; Ideas Mapping giving folk a platform to share their work; Futurewalk taking a wander along Perth Road and exploring its past, present and possible future; and Postcards from the Future inviting participants to write to themselves from 2029 confirming the positive changes they hope to see. A full programme of events will be confirmed in May 2019. Project updates are also available at https://perthroaddundeemap.commonplace.is/news and via twitter @PerthRoadPlaces.
The Perth Road – Places for Everyone team will also have a stall at West Fest on Sunday 2 June 2019. All events are free – All Welcome!
West End Community Councillor and Project Sponsor, Russell Pepper said;
“Perth Road is a great part of Dundee, but it could be much better! It should be a place for everyone in the community to enjoy and take pride in, so we’re delighted to have secured funding from Sustrans to hold a series of events to gather opinion and priorities from the local community on how they would like to see the area improved. If we’re successful in securing funds for the second phase of the project, this information will have significant input, so it’s important that as many people take part as possible – please come along if you can!”
Graham Ross, Partner at Austin-Smith;Lord said;
“Perth Road is recognised in the Local Development Plan for Dundee as one of the city’s key ‘high streets’. To face up to the challenges facing ‘high streets’ it is important to ensure that they are places that people want to be in; places where everyone feels they are welcome, have reason to be there and wish to spend time there. It is great that the West End Community Council have secured the support of Sustrans Scotland to progress this canvassing of opinion and great ideas. We look forward to exploring the possibilities and creative solutions to meet these challenges in a way which ensures Perth Road is a thriving place for everyone in the future.”
Dave Keane, Infrastructure Manager for Sustrans Scotland said;
“We are pleased to be able to support the West End Community Council through Places for Everyone, to help make Perth Road a space where people can come to meet, spend time or access other parts of the city. We look forward to seeing the ideas that the local community come up with and the results of the charrette and working with the Community Council and the City Council to help take ideas forward.”
Commonplace Website Launch: 29th April 2019
Places for Everyone Charrette: Wednesday 22 May to Saturday 25 May 2019 @ Gate Church International
West Fest stall: Sunday 2 June 2019
We are delighted to have achieved Cyber Essentials PLUS Certification.
Cyber Essentials PLUS is a UK Government-backed, industry-supported certification scheme introduced in the UK to help organisations demonstrate operational security against common cyber-attacks.
It demonstrates the baseline controls Austin-Smith:Lord implements to mitigate the risk from common Internet-based threats, within the context of the UK Government’s 10 Steps to Cyber Security. It is backed by industry, including the Federation of Small Businesses and the Confederation of British Industry.
David Price, IT Manager at Austin-Smith:Lord said “Cyber Essentials PLUS accreditation clearly demonstrates Austin-Smith: Lord’s commitment to protecting its own data and that of its customers and suppliers. Essentials PLUS encompasses a far greater number of Cyber assessments, thereby providing us with a better understanding of our organisation’s levels of Cyber risk, ensuring it is kept to a minimum for the Practice and our customers.”
Huge congratulations to Catherine Cosgrove, who has recently achieved her RIAS Conservation Accreditation.
Catherine joined Austin-Smith:Lord in 2006 and became and Associate in 2015. Her recent projects include the restoration of the Great Pagoda at Kew Gardens, and the Confucius Institute for the University of Strathclyde.
David Millar, Head of Conservation at Austin-Smith:Lord said: “I am delighted to say that Austin-Smith:Lord has yet another RIAS Conservation Accredited Architect, namely Catherine Cosgrove, who obtained her certificate from the RIAS in late February. She has worked on some very high status listed buildings in the UK and her careful attention to detailing and technical understanding of traditional construction are reflected in this award. She continues to be a key member of our ever growing Conservation Team across the practice, as well as Sustainability Champion across our five studios.”
You can view our conservation projects here
You can view Catherine’s web page here
